Our Holy Father is at work

THIS is the first Thought for the Week offered for the four Thursdays in December by Colin Goodyear from St Stephen’s, Hightown.

Colin, pictured, is an Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Liverpool. He retired a few years ago from his post of Senior Lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics. His professional interests have ranged from Atomic and Molecular Physics to Telecommunications and Speech Coding. His hobbies include photography, painting and music, and he plays the flute with the Southport Orchestra. He has been a Reader in the Liverpool Diocese for more than 40 years and is licensed to St Stephen’s, Hightown.

IN St John’s Gospel we read that Our Lord said “My Father is always working, and I, too, must work.” My Father is always working! What a wonderful way of looking at the world! What a wonderful thought to have in our minds as we approach our heavenly Father in prayer.

A few months ago, at Harvest Festival, I remember wondering how a newcomer to church might react to the words of the hymn “We plough the fields and scatter” which contains the verse “He paints the wayside flower. He lights the evening star.”

After all, everyone knows that the colour of a flower is the result of biochemistry developed over millions of years of evolution, linking the life of the plant with that of the insects which pollinate it. As for the light of the evening star, why, that is the outpouring of energy from nuclear processes on a gigantic scale billions of miles away.

Are the sentiments in the hymn a sort of folk religion? Are they an echo from those distant times when people really believed that rain and the growth of plants and the lights of the sky were controlled by gods who needed to be propitiated from time to time in religious ceremonies and sacrifices, with their temples and altars adorned with gifts?

Or are those words to be understood not literally but as religious poetry, designed to express our ultimate dependence upon God and his providence even though the words at face value are simply not true? Or are the words so simple that they really are true? Do we, indeed, worship a God who is big enough to be active everywhere in his creation all the time?

And, do we believe that he really is lovingly involved in his own creation, rejoicing in the colouring of every flower and revelling in the restless thermonuclear furnaces of the stars of the universe?

I believe that one of the most important tasks for us as a Christian church is to make much clearer to people we meet, and to live out in our own lives, our belief in God who is actively involved in His world.

The trouble is not that people do not believe in God for most people do. The trouble is that they relegate Him and He, in his meekness, allows us to relegate Him to the extremes of our life. It is thought that He belongs to the sphere of the abnormal and the exceptional. Religious experience is not denied, that prayer is occasionally answered is willingly believed, but the religious phenomenon is seen as exceptional and the likelihood of an encounter with God is thought to be remote.

But the idea that God acts frequently, daily, hourly, within the sphere of ordinary life – an idea which was natural to our forebears in a less materialistic age – has been lost, and its loss is due to our failure to witness to it in our faith.

SAMM service

FORMBY people are being invited to the annual SAMM memorial service arranged by the charity Support after Murder and Manslaughter Merseyside tomorrow (Friday, December 7) at 7.30pm at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King in Liverpool.

The non-denominational service is open to all, including families, friends and work colleagues of anyone who has lost their life through an act of homicide.

During the service names will be read out and a candle lit in memory. If anyone wishes to have someone remembered in this way, contact the 24-hour helpline on 0151 207 6767.

A church motto?

ENGLAND is a nation of shopkeepers, Napoleon is reputed to have said.

A nation of mickey-takers might be more apt, says Catherine Fox, writing in the Church of England Newspaper, judging from the suggestions for a 5-word national motto published in The Times recently from which the top 10 were:

No motto please, we’re British: Dipso fatso bingo asbo Tesco: Try writing history without us: We apologise for the inconvenience: Mathematically, we could still qualify: Smile, you’re on TV: Once mighty empire, slightly used: Britain the birthplace of freedom: Free, tolerant, fair-minded and true: Mind your own business.

She then asks whether, as a church, we need an official Anglican motto? Ought we to go down the abstract route – Love, Joy, Peace, Faith Hope Charity and so on?

There are plenty of Biblical options to select from. Latin would clearly be inappropriate – that’s why we had the Reformation, after all. We might take a leaf out of South Korea’s book and adopt something like “The C of E – Broadly inoffensive”. Alternatively, we could borrow from the wisdom of the Vatican “The C of E – Null and Void since Henry VIII.” On the other hand, we may wish to reflect on modern churchmanship trends: “The C of E – You don’t have to be Evangelical to work here, but it helps!”

Any ideas for our churches in Formby? All constructive suggestions published!

Toy service

THE annual toy service was held on Sunday morning at St Stephen’s, Hightown.